Mentalist Tag: Always Bet on Red, 4x11
by Donnamour1969
Summary: As promised, Cho takes Summer out for pizza. Spoilers episode 4x11.  No copyright infringement intended.


A/N: So this episode was great—infuriating at times (I'm greatly concerned about both Jane and Lisbon's behavior of late), hilarious at others. Loved Jane's line after the shark ate the lawyer's leg: "So much for professional courtesy," or something like that. But the Jane/RJ story was pretty dark, and I'm trying to steer away from writing angst for awhile. Besides, Little Mender wrote such a great tag for that storyline that I wouldn't know how to begin to improve upon it. Check it out if you haven't already.

So here, is a somewhat lighter approach, focusing on the fabulous Summer and Cho. I hope you like it.

**Episode Tag: "Always Bet on Red", 4x11**

"Is that Jane guy always like that?" asked Summer, taking a dainty bite of her second slice of pizza.

As per their agreement, she and Cho were sitting in the team's favorite pizzeria, just down the street from CBI Headquarters. It was decorated in 1950's kitsch, down to the red and white checked tablecloths and ice cream parlor chairs. But Cho liked the place mainly for its great view of the state Capitol. It reminded him of the importance of his job, of his commitment to making the right decisions.

"Like what?" Cho asked. He chewed his own bite of pepperoni. No mushrooms. No pineapple.

"You know, solving that case so fast. In and out, wham bam, thank you ma'am. He was even faster than some of my first-timers."

_First timers, _thought Cho. Guys who went to prostitutes for the express purpose of losing their virginity. He'd been one of those once upon a time. At fifteen, his gang had teased him mercilessly when they'd found out he was still a virgin. They'd insisted he go down to the corner and solicit the first working girl he saw. It had been fast, all right, he remembered in embarrassment. He couldn't even remember the woman's face. But if she'd looked like Summer, he would have. Cho shifted uncomfortably in his seat and met Summer's dark eyes, realizing he'd taken too long to answer her question. She was looking at him in that disconcerting, knowing way she had, her lips pursed slightly, her eyes narrowed in amusement.

"Sometimes Jane does that," he said finally. "Other times he strings us along for days, even though he knew who the killer was from day one."

"That must be really frustrating for you," she said, sipping her Coke.

"Yeah. But as long as we get the bad guy…" He shrugged by way of conclusion.

"Uh-huh."

They sat and ate their pizza in silence a few minutes, and they both reached for their third piece at the same time. Cho's lips quirked a little. He liked a girl with a healthy appetite. But thoughts like that about her were mightily disconcerting to him. He had to stop thinking about her as a woman. She was his CI. A common whore. Except that that wasn't exactly true, in more ways than one. Uncharacteristically, Cho broke the silence.

"You said you weren't working anymore," he stated. She'd actually proclaimed it rather emphatically. Twice. He tried not to acknowledge how pleased that made him. He didn't need to know what she did, so long as she showed up when he needed information.

"Oh, I'm still working. Just not in my old job. Seems the CBI is my new employer, just like you, Kimball." She grinned at him, and Cho felt his heart clench a little. He hated that feeling.

"So what we pay you is enough to keep you from having to…work elsewhere?"

"Yeah, for now."

"Sort of a catch-22 though, isn't it? If you're not hooking, how can you get inside information?"

Her smile faded at the reminder that despite the fact they were sharing a pizza, they weren't friends, that he wasn't showing the least bit of approval that she'd stopped doing the job she knew he despised. If she admitted it to herself, Summer hadn't just quit turning tricks because the CBI was paying her now. She'd done it because Cho made her feel guilty for doing it. And if she were completely honest with herself, it was because she wanted him to approve of her.

"What? You don't have informants who aren't hookers?" she asked bitterly, tossing her half-eaten slice to her plate, her appetite suddenly gone.

"We do," he said. He saw he'd hurt her feelings, and he hated that feeling too.

"Well, don't worry about how I get the information, Kimball. You just worry about making sure you have the cash to pay me."

He nodded, calm and cool on the outside in the face of her angry outburst. Inside though, Cho's thoughts were churning. He didn't want her to be a hooker, but he was still using her, still paying her for services rendered. He justified it by telling himself he was keeping her from being beaten or killed by some john-he'd lost track of the number of dead prostitutes he'd seen in his day. But he was having a hard time getting over what she had been, how he'd been so uptight when they'd been under cover in that casino and she'd whispered sexual promises in that mobster's ear.

Seeing his taciturn reaction to her anger, Summer got to her feet. "Well, thanks for the pizza, _Agent_ Cho," she said, loudly emphasizing his occupation as if she were giving the small group of patrons a state secret. She picked up her purse from the empty chair beside her. "But I've had better pies over on Third Street." She glanced at the woman at the cash register. "No offense."

Without thinking, Cho reached out and grabbed her wrist. He didn't like public scenes, but he also found that he didn't want her to leave like this.

"Sit down, Summer," he ordered. When she merely glanced haughtily at her captured hand, he forced himself to soften his voice. "Please," he added, but it pained him to do so.

She hesitated, sizing him up with her uncomfortably perceptive stare. She rightfully deduced that he was sorry, so, with great dignity, she resumed her seat across from him.

"Look," he began when she'd settled down again. "You have the job as long as you can hold up your end. And…it's good to know you're not hooking anymore."

There. He'd said it. Her smile at his words was nearly blinding, and Cho blinked against the onslaught of her beauty. He flashed back to two nights before, when she'd agreed to lead him into the illegal gambling den. She'd looked at him in genuine appreciation, dressed in his sharpest suit.

"You look like a Korean James Bond," she'd told him, straightening his tie with a flourish. And she'd…she'd looked glamorous and lovely, platinum hair smoothed into a fashionable side bun (now sans pink streak), her sequined silver dress not rivaling the sparkle in her eyes, a throwback to blonde sex kittens from the forties and fifties. And while she'd been as off-limits to him as sin, she'd smelled like heaven.

Later, completely in character, she'd kissed him with those soft, red lips of hers. He could feel the sensual pressure of them on his cheek for hours afterwards. Now, as she sat before him, more casual but still coolly beautiful, wearing the same tantalizing perfume from that night, Cho realized that the reasons he would still keep paying her went far beyond the need for information. He also realized he was an idiot. He caught a glimpse of the Capitol building out of the corner of his eye, and looked hastily away.

"So," Summer said, reaching for the plastic menu lodged between the napkin dispenser and the salt and pepper shakers. "You hungry for dessert? I'd share a banana split with you."

"I hate bananas," he told her.

"You hate bananas? Who hates bananas?"

"Well, you hate mushrooms," he reminded her.

"Hardly the same thing," she countered.

"True. One is a fruit. One is a fungus."

She shook her head in feigned annoyance. "You've made my point. Well, how about chocolate cake? You have anything against chocolate cake?" She said, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

He allowed her a brief flash of dimple. "No."

"Hey," she called to the waitress. "Could you bring us a slice of chocolate cake please? And two forks."

"Chocolate cake wasn't part of the negotiation," he couldn't resist baiting her. "I don't think I can justify chocolate cake on the expense report."

"But a CI as valuable as I am is worth keeping happy, aren't I?" she said, pleased with the hint of teasing in his normally stoic gaze. "If you want to keep me, you'll just have to pay out of your own pocket." Her expression became infinitely charming and flirtatious, and Cho felt that familiar clench that had become a constant companion since the moment he'd met Summer Edgecomb.

"Oh, I'm paying for it all right," he muttered in mock irritation, much to her amusement. _And paying, and paying, and paying…_thought Cho ironically.

But when her eyes lit up in appreciation as the waitress set the decadently huge dessert before them, Cho couldn't help feeling he was getting much more than his money's worth.

A/N: Hope you liked this tag! I love these two together, and so hope we see their relationship develop even more on the show. Let me just push again another Chummer fic that is really incredible if you like this pairing. It's called "I'm in Here," by mia101.

If you are considering reviewing my story, please sign in so I can respond to you personally. If you haven't received a reply to your review, that's why. Thanks for reading.


End file.
